Liquid-vending machine



Aug. 11, 1925. f $548,831

` F. l. DU PONT v LIQUID VENDING MACHINE 4 SheetsJ-Sheet 1 ug. l1, 1925.

F. l. DU PONT LIQUID VENDING MACHINE Aug. 11, 192s. 1,548,831

l F. l. DU POINT LIQUID VENDI NG MACHINE TURNE y.

State of Delaware, have invented a new and justable that the' PatentedAug. 11, 1925.

uNnEDsTATEs PATENT oFFICE.

, rItANcIs I. mi PONT, or WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, AssIGNoR 'ro DELAWARECHEMI- oAL ENGINEERING courANY, or WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, AcoaronA'rIoNoE DELAWARE LIQUIE-v-ENDING MACHINE.

Appunti@ mea my 6,1922. serial No. 1173,11?.l

To all whom 'z't may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS I. DU PONT,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilmington, 'county of NewCastle, and

useful Improvement in Liquid-Vending Machines, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a-part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in coin-controlled liquidvending machines, and more particularly to machines for dispensinggasoline, oils, etc.

'I vam aware that coin-controlled liquid vending machines are old in theart, but in all such machines lmown to me the machines are designed todeliver a fixed quantity or quantities.

Theobject of my invention' is to provide a machine of this characterwhich, while 'adapted to deliver a predetermined volume of liquid foreach coin of a fixed dex nomination that may beinserted, is soadpredet'ermined volume,u

greater capacity than the maximum delivery to be vmade and a fluiddisplacer of ca1cu lated volume. The bucket is raised to a prdeterminedposition with relation to the dis.-

placer, and all of the-fluid displaced in the ucket by the displacerflows to 'a 'delivery i e through which it passes' to the point of Thedevice isso arranged that the depth to which the displaceris movedintothe liquid when thebucket ismoved to its de-` livery position may-bereadily adjustedso that-the quantity of gasoline delivered forvstruction o the device. without departing-- from the spirit and sco e ofmy invention- 'as de nedv in theiappen ed claims.

Fig.v1 is aside elevation, partially in section, somewhat ldiagrammatlc,which shows deliverable upon the Insertion of a coin may \0I1e. f0rm ofapparatus constructed in accorbe varied in accordance with variations inthe customary retailmarket price of the liquid, that is, may beincreased f the market price falls or decreases as the market pricerises. For example, if a machine for vending gasoline is designed toreceive half dollars, vit should have -a maximum capacityof (say)threegallons, and when so'desgned it would be adjustable to deliver theproper amount of gasoline for a half dollar so long as the price doesnotfall below' seventeen cents per gallon. If the price of gasoline isseventeen cents er gallon, the device would be adjusted to eliver 2.94gallons for each half dollar inserted. If'the price is twenty cents, 2.5gallons will be'delivered and if the price is twenty-eight cents, 1.8gallons will be delivered.

The device is preferably provided withl a scale indicating prices,togetherl with an adjustable pointer connected to the measuring device,and so arranged that when adjustments are made, boththe measuringmechanism and indicator are simultaneously adjusted.

In the specilclform shown, this is accomplished by means of' a ybuckethavingl a side elevation ofthe for receiving the 'fluid from the Fig. 3is'avertical section through 4the bucket filling pipe. 4 Fig. 4 is adetail sectional view showing the clutch mechanism 'and the coincontrolled means therefor. v

Ff 5 is a detail sectional view of Fig. 4, showing the coin deliverychute in connec tion with the levers. y

Fig.\6 is a sectional plan view of a portion of Fig. 1, showing therelation of the bucket and Wei ht in the lillin Iii Figs. and 8 are si eeevationsof the bucket in different positions.

Fig. 9 is a perspectivel view of certajnparts of the apparatus.

' In these dra-wings, the reference character- 2 designates a` gasolme.tank -and 3 a filling connection therefor. 4- is a. vertical pipe whichextendsbelow and above ther tank 2 and is connected thereto by tubes 5s'ol that the gasoline will freely flow from the tankl 2 to the pipe'4.-vMounted onthe top of the -pipe 4 is a casing 6 inwhich is housedy themechanism for actuating the bucket for delivering the gasoline.

Connected to support 7 on the bottom of pipe 4 and similar supportsSconnected to the casing 6 or a suit/able frame therein are two guiderods 9. 10 is a bucket which is provided with ears 11 which slidablyengage the rods 9. This bucket 10- is provided with a spout 12 at aboutthe center thereof.

Mounted in suitable bearings in the frame or supported by the casing isa shaft 13, hav-v lbe elevated to its discharging position by the weightas hereinafter described. v18 is a displacer which is supported by aframe or yoke 19 which is mounted for adjustment along'rods 9. Thisdisplacer is so positioned that when the bucket is elevated to itsextreme position by the weight 17, the displacer will be within thebucket' 10.

rllhe yoke 19 is provided with a rack 20 which is engaged by a pinion 21on a shaft 22, journaled .in suitable bearings in the frame. 23 is adrum on shaft 22 and 24is a cable or chain, the one end of which isconnected to the drum While the other end thereof is connected to asliding nut 25; This nut 25 is held against rotation by means of guides26 Within a casing 27, supported on the bottom ot casing 6. One of theguides yis graduated and may be numbered to indicate different prices,sa 17 to 35.

The nut 25 is engaged y a screw rod 28, which is rotatably mounted incasing 27, and which rod is heldagainst vertical movement by itsbearings..

The displacer 18 is shown positioned at its lowest point so that thedevice as now set will deliver the maximum amount of gasoline. i

The attendant adjusts the nut 25 by the screw 28 to place the pointerextending from the nut in the plane of the mark in'- dicating the priceof gasoline. This adjustment of the nut will position the displacer 18at the proper point to\deliverv the proper amount of asoline for thecoinreceived, at the price lndicatcd by the pointer.

The casing 27 is closed by a door having a glass panel through which thepurchaser can see the price charged per gallon, and the door is alsoprovided with a lock to prevent unauthorized persons tampering with theadjustment of the displacer.

The bucket 10 is normally in its elevated position and is held in suchposition by the weight 17, which is then in the lower part of the pipe4. The weight is raised and controlled by mechanism within a casing 30and comprises a shaft 31 rotatably mounted in bearings 32 on the casingand at one end ot the shaft. .The other end of the shaft is rotatablymounted in a sleeve 33 which is in turn rotatably mounted in a bearingin the casing and is maintained against longitudinal movement by saidbearing.' The shaft 31 is maintained against longitudinal movement by acollar 34 which is secured to the shaft between bearings 3 2. Connectedto shaft 31 is a sprocket wheel 35, which isconnected to sprocket wheel15 on shaft 13 by a sprocket chain 36. Connected to sleeve 33 is a crank37, a clutch member 38 and a ratchet wheel 39. 40 is a pawl arranged toprevent the ratchet wheel and crank from rotating counter-clockwise.Splined to shaft 31 so as to rotate therewith and at the same timepermit longitudinal movement thereon is a clutch member 41. Pivotallymounted at 42 in a fork 43 extending from one side ofthe casing 30 is aclutch actuating lever 44, having an arcuate U-shaped arm 45 for thepurpose hereinafter described. 46 is a spring-actuated plunger connectedto lever 44 for retaining the clutch member 41 in either of its extremepositions.

Clutch lever 44 is provided with an arm 44a which is connected by meansof a link 47 with one arm of a bell crank 48, pivotally mounted in pipe4. The other arm of this bell crank is in the path of a projection 49 onchain 16.

Pivotally mounted at 42 above lever 44 is a control lever 50 which ismaintained in the position shown in F ig. 4 by a spring 51. This lever50 is also provided with an arcuate eXtensio-n 52 between the legs ofextension 45 of clutch lever 44. Both of these extensions are providedwith coin slots and are in alignment with each other when the parts arein the posit-ions shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and 53 is a coin chute leadingfrom a coin slot 54 in casing 30 to. the coin slots in the levers whenthe levers 44 and 50 are in their normal positions shown in Figs. 4

j and 5.

The gasoline is discharged from the bucket 10 through spout 12 when thebucket is raised by the weight to enclose and submerge the displaccr,and the gasoline which Hows out through the spout is delivered to a llOand flexible connection. The pipe 55 is pro .vided with a T 61 tol whicha rotatably connected one end of aA pipe 62, the other end thereof beingclosed and is provided with a lever 63. 'llhisl latter end is rotatablysupported in a bracket 64 secured to .pipe 55 and forms a stop for saidpipe, which engages the top of pipe 59 when the frame 56 and its partsare in their lowered positions. Conlever 63 by a link 67. rllhe otherarm of this' bell crank 66 is in .the path of a pin 68 on the upper ear11 of the bucket at the side opposite the chain 16. 68a (Fig. 1) is aspring connected to frame 56 and bell crank 66 and which holds thevarious levers and funnel in the position shown, clear of spout 12, whenthe parts are intheir lowered positions.

The weight 17 is pointed 4so vas to readily enter the 'gasoline in pipe4 without splashing. The lower end of displacer 18 is also pointed 'toreadily enter the gasoline in the bucket and gradually reduce the speedof movement thereof, which acts as a dash pot plunger during the finalupward movement of the bucket.

The parts when in their normal positions are in the positions shown inFigs. 1, 4 and 5 with the exception that the .bucket and frame 56 are intheir elevated positions and .the weight is in its lowered position.

The purchaser d\eposits the coin in slot.

54, which is delivered to the slots in levers 44 and 50 and will lockthe levers to each other. Lever 50 is then moved to the'left, which willin -turn shift the clutch lever 44 in a direction to move clutch member41 toward member ,38. Immediately. after yclutch lever 44 has passeditscentral position, spring plunger 46 will shift said lever and member41 to 4clutching position. This movement of the'clutch lever will carrythe coin free of lever 50 as the front part of l`its slot is cutaway,`and carry the coin over slot 71 in/the top'of a coin receptacle incasing` 30;'into which it will fall. rlhe operator n w releaseslever 50.which will be returned its spring 51 and position the slot in said leverunder clrute 53. The extension 45, however', of lever 44, whichstraddles lever 50, will prevent a coin passing from chute 53 until theclutch lever 44: is again in the position shown in Fig.- 4. The oper-Iator now turns the crank 37 inra clockwise p direction until the bucket10 has been lowered into pipe 4 and the weight 17 has been V During therotation'of the crank 37, the bucketl 10 will fall as rapidly as theweight 17 is raised until the bucket contacts with the gasoline whichwill slow up the movement of the bucket unless the crank -is turned veryslowly. the weightof the bucket is greater than that of. the' gasolinedisplaced by that portion of the bucket below the lower edge of theinletto spout 12, the bucket will sink slowly until the spout is submer ed.As the spout is relatively large, the bucet will fill rapidlytherethrough and sink to the position shown in ig. 1. J ust before the,bucket'reaches the point shown in Fig. 1, projection 49 on chain 16 willtrip lever 48, which in turn through the link 47 and lever 46 will shiftclutch lever 44 and disengage the clu-tch members. This dis'- engagementlof the clutch members, 'as will be seen by reference to F ig. 9, willrelease the weight 17 through the release of sprocket 35, which willfall and raise the bucket to its extreme upper position, Where it willbe retained by theweight untilthe crank is turned after. insertion ofthe next coin. During the upward movement of the bucket, the surplusgasoline above spout 12 will fall back into the pipe 4 before the bucketreaches the end of such pipe. As the bucket rises, pin 68 on one of'.the ears 11 will engage the horizontal arm of bell crank 66 and saidear 11 will then. engage boss 57 on frame 56. The engagement; of bellcrank 66 by pin 68 will shift the funnel 65 under vspout 12, as shown inFig. 7, just as the point of displacer 18 is about to enter thc gasolinein the bucket, when adjusted to deliver the maximum amount of gasolinewhich can be delivered by the device. As the bucket raises fromtheposition shown in Fig. 7, the frame 56 together with the various partsconnected thereto will be car ried upwardly with. the bucket until ytheupper ear 11 to which claim 16 is connected, engages the boss 8 aboveit. lf the speed of the rise of the bucket is such as to cause thedisplacer 18 to displace the gasoline more vrapidly than it will flowthrough the spout 12, the gasoline will rise above the spout, but in noevent will the displaced gasoline flow over the top of the bucket as thecapacity of the bucket above the spout lil) is greater than the volumeofthe displacer *capacity to an degree belowthe maximumv deliverycapacity, whereby the quantity delivered for the coin received mayreadily be varied as the price of the liquid being dispensed varies. u

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is: A

1. A liquid dispensing/ device having measuring means, comprising aliquid container and liquid displacer, said container having an outletabove the bottom thereof and of sufcient capacity below the outlet tohold a greater quantity of liquid ythan is dispensed at any .one time,means for filling the container for each dispensing operation, and meansfor moving the container and displacer relative to` each other duringeach dispensing operation, to cause the displacer to enter the containerand force a predetermined quantity of liquid from the container throughthe outlet. l

2. A liquid kdispensing device having measuringmeans, comprising aliquid container and liquid displacer, said container having an outletabove the bottom thereof and of suflicient capacity below the outlet toholda greater quantity of liquid than is dispensed at any one time,means for filling the container for each dispensing operation, meansformoving the container and displacer relative to each other during eachdispensing operation, to cause the displacer to enter the container andforce a predetermined quantity of liquid fromy the container through theoutlet, and means for varying the depth to which the displacer is movedinto the container, to vary the dispensing capacity ofthe measuringmeans.

3. A liquid dispensing device having measuring means, comprising aliquid container and a liquid displacer, there being an outletl from the.contamer above the bot tom thereof, the"volume of the liquid capable ofbeing held by the container being greater than the volume `of thedisplacer and means for moving the`container into filling anddischarging positions, said displacer beingv arranged toA be positionedin the container to force liquid from the container through the outletwhen the container is moved into discharging position. u

4. A liquid dispensing device having measuring means, comprising aliquid container and a liquid displacer, there being an outlet from the"container above the bottom thereof, the volume of the liquid capable ofbeing held by the container being greater than the volume of thedisplacer, means for moving-the-container into filling and dischargingpositions, said displacer being arranged to be ositiond inthe con-Atainer to force liqui from lthe container through the outlet when the'.container is moved into discharging position, and means for adjustingthe position of theA displacer relative to the container when in itsdischarging position. U

5. A liquid dispensing device comprising a liquid reservoir, a liquidreceiver, a bucket movable into and out of said reservoir, a displaceradapted to enter said bucket and thereby displace liquid therefrom intothe receiver, means to operate the bucket, coincontrolled mechanism forreleasing said means, and adjustablemechanism for vary ing the amount offluid displaced by the displacer.

6. A liquid dispensing device having a liquid elevating container,mechanism for lowering the container into filling position and 'toelevate it into emptying position, coin-controlled mechanism forcontrolling the movement of the lowering Qand elevating mechanism, meansfor discharging the liquid from the container when elevated, and meansfor adjusting the discharging means to vary the discharge to any degreebelow the maximum capacity of the dispens-4 ing device.

7. A liquid dispensing4 device having a bucket for raising the liquidfrom a well to a point from whichit will How by gravity, a weight forraising the bucket, weightraising mechanism, a crank for actuating theweight-raising mechanism, coin-controlled mechanism for connecting thecrank and weight-raising mechanism to each other, a displacer for forcinthe liquid to be dispensed from the buc et, and means for ad-- justingthe dislplacer to vary the quantity -liquid from the bucket, a weightfor raising the bucket, mechanism for shifting the bucket andliquid-receiving device into proper re-V lation to each other to permitliquid to flow from one to the other, means controlled by the bucket foractuating said last mentioned mechanism, weight-ra1sing mechanism, a

crank for actuating the weight-raising mechfanism, com-controlled mec-anism for connecting the crank and weight-raising mechanism to eachother, -a displacer for forcing the liquid to be dispensed from thebucket, and means for adjusting the displacer to vary the quantity ofliquid displaced to vary the quantity delivered for the coin received inaccordance with the variation in the price of the liquid beingdispensed. ,In testlmony ofwhich invention, I have hereunto set my hand,at Wilmington, Delaware, on this 1st day of July, 1922.

. FRANCIS I. DU PONT.

